SAUDI ARABIA: TOMORROW THE STORM?

The winds of the "Arab spring" have reached Saudi Arabia, but the Wahhabi kingdom is standing firm. When the events that swept Tunisia and Egypt in early 2011 unfurled upon the island kingdom of Bahrain, a few miles off the coast of the Arabian peninsula, Riyadh reacted instantly by sending in troops and solidly supporting the Bahraini regime, while the powerful Saudi media unanimously described the protest movements in Bahrain as the work of the national enemy, Iran. The same technique was applied in the weeks that followed, this time in Saudi Arabia itself, where discontent towards the royal House of Saud was voiced in various parts of the country. The palace used every means at its disposal to quell the dissent, orchestrating a media campaign and ordering police crackdowns -- while also distributing largesse and enlisting the support of the Sunni clergy. So far, the regime is holding out, but the impending succession to aging King Abdullah's throne is likely to rock the system to its foundations. Adapted from the source document.